Hard News: Trams, drams and scams
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Funny you had problems getting back from ChCh. Last year a friend and I went snowboarding at Mt Hutt for the weekend and were amazed that it the door to door trip actually takes less time than trip to Mt Ruapehu. Well worth the trip if you can get cheap flights.
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Re the bar culture - in every other city but Auckland, it is more practical and cheap to:
a) get into town on foot, bicycle, or bus;
b) get home via same or taxi once completely trollied.Auckland's geography and car-centricity are anathema to a spontaneous alcoholic social life.
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When I was 19 I was a field engineer in England, driving around fixing computers. I got a call one day from my boss. "We've just won a big contract in Scotland. We need someone to do the start up audit (counting the copmputers)"
"F*** off. It's a 16 hour drive to Scotland, away from home etc."
"It's Distillers Group"
"I'll be there in the morning."
And so proceeded one of the most debauched three weeks of my life. It would appear that all the staff of small distilleries thought it great sport to get the wee young sasanach (S?) pished. And who was I to argue?
Lasting legacies:
- I like it neat. You don't get pished as quickly.
- I like it warm. You can taste it (n.b. if anything tastes bad, serve it cold. Like SplioDB. Or Chardonnay.)
- I like it single and not too peaty. In other words, I now have expensive taste.
- I haven't touched it for years. Becuase a bottle can so easily evaporate. -
and word on whether that cheesemaker sends his product to other cities?
i found his website, but can't find out if i could decent cheeses here in wellington?
did he mention if he 'exported' it to the north?
enquiring wannabe gourmets need to know.
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- I like it neat. You don't get pished as quickly.
You need to get over that. The premium bottlings often come at a cask strength of up to 60% now. You need to add anything from a couple of drops to another 50% good water to appreciate them, although it's fine to do your nosing neat.
- I like it warm. You can taste it (n.b. if anything tastes bad, serve it cold. Like SplioDB. Or Chardonnay.)
Something I learned: when you add the right quanity of water you can trigger a chemical reaction that actually warms up the whisky in your glass.
- I like it single and not too peaty. In other words, I now have expensive taste.
Yes. When you look down your nose at a $100 bottle you know you have a problem.
- I haven't touched it for years. Becuase a bottle can so easily evaporate.
It evaporates at a rate determined by the variable "x", where "x" is the number of friends you have around ...
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and word on whether that cheesemaker sends his product to other cities?
No e-comm, but you can place mail-orders here:
http://www.cheesemongers.co.nz/mailorder.asp
The Shropshire is pictured top-left here:
http://www.cheesemongers.co.nz/cheese.asp
It looks bitchin', does it not?
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It looks bitchin', does it not?
food porn.
will have to chase up some local providers, to see if they can supply some of the cheeses off that second link of yours.
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food porn.
Wait till you actually put some in your mouth ...
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Wait till you actually put some in your mouth ...
i'm not entirely comfortable with this thread... and so am exercising my right to stop reading.
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i'm not entirely comfortable with this thread... and so am exercising my right to stop reading.
You've gone back to look at that picture of the Shropshire, haven't you?
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This just in from Sarah Aspinwall at Canterbury Cheesemongers:
our UK cheese imports (incl Shropshire Blue) are available in Wellington at Kirkcaldie and Stains.
You can get some on the way home, Che.
Che? Che? Are you there?
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Porn is always cheesy, so I guess porny cheese is only fair. "Like a genius, I swallowed every drop..."
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i was in Christchurch a couple of weeks ago, Giacometti at the new gallery and cheese were absolute highlights. Tried my first unpasteurised Swiss cheese which was also my favourite. There was a yeasty French Brie that was meltingly fine. I loved how you got to try each cheese before buying, and the room where the big rounds sit there being misted in some soft spray . Their bread is also supposed to be great - you can call ahead and order which we found out too late. I miss the cheeseshop and wish it was here in Wellington.
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Is there any whisky distilled (commercially) in NZ?
Do South Islanders slam into "party drams" in the same way as "party pills"?
And on the subject of the some-Maori Party:
- does Tariana realise that at least one new immigrant to NZ I met last year is Maori - his mum moved to the UK many years ago - I'm sure there must be others. -
Is there any whisky distilled (commercially) in NZ?
<puts on whisky expert hat>
There's about to be some, although in the way of these things, it'll be a while.
When Seagrams exited its NZ liquor business and sold it to Fosters, Fosters decided it had little use for the Willowbank distillery in Dunedin, and closed it.
Given that the distillery was the source of the dread Wilson's whisky, you might not be inclined to lament its passing. But from 1987, they started putting down a proper single malt.
Until the sale, that malt was marketed as Lammerlaw. But the remaining casks were bought from Fosters as a job lot by an Aucklander called Warren Preston, who relaunched it as the Milford single malt. He now has an ageing facility at a stone building in Oamaru, and has just gained resource consent for a new distillery near Queenstown.
I tried the 15 year-old - it's pretty good. He has a 20 year-old due for bottling this year ...
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DMR,
http://www.localeye.info/ - Christchurch news and web sites etc etc
You picked some of the best bars, I am a habitue of Twisted Hop's Sunday avo pub quiz especially ...
Plus I live round the corner from the cheesemonger (and Vic's Cafe that does the best cheesy red onion bagels and a good salty rosemary foccacia to have with your cheese)
I am glad Dramfest did well and got lots of coverage.
Hopefully somewhere will do a PortFest too mmm tawny port
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kebabette/370566757/ -
merc,
That would be, gout-fest.
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DMR,
ha ha - and rosy cheek-athon
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the Cropwell Bishop Shropshire, a blue vein cheese of spectacular orange hue, which tasted like God's own marmite
God's own marmite. Love it.
I quite liked Lammerlaw, in a Glen Grant sort of a way, although my favourite single malts tend to be very peaty - such as a cask-strength Caol Ila or, failing that, a Lagavulin, Laphroaig or a Bowmore.
And I miss British cheeses. Sob.
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That would be, gout-fest.
Yeah, keeping an eye on that one. Might have to order some more cherry pills.
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I quite liked Lammerlaw, in a Glen Grant sort of a way
It has actually got better with age. Still a lighter, Lowland style, but perfectly alright.
although my favourite single malts tend to be very peaty - such as a cask-strength Caol Ila or, failing that, a Lagavulin, Laphroaig or a Bowmore.
Both Nigel and I found that the peated whiskies started to all taste the same after a while. It gave me a renewed respect for Springbank, whose bottlles were rich and magnificent, and only lightly peated.
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merc,
I've heard it said, it's the potassium does the damage, but what do I know.
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Oh my gosh, I'm just glad we all made it home finally. 6-7 hours to get home from Chch is a bit much ain't it? The fact that they couldn't locate one of our bags on the earlier portion of our mission, along with several staff members also failing to locate it, to seeing the bag come through with all our luggage in AK was a nice strange part to our day, very inline with how our journey developed. And for the blog watchers in the group, it was a very nice blip in our day to meet ya, and to be able to chat about meeting ya for the rest of our trip so thank you bro, you helped make the ordeal a lil easier!
Chip/opensouls
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I'm sitting at my desk at work taking a break and keying in these comments. Makes me look like I'm busy at work.
Anyway, I don't know much about cheesemongers and blue veined cheeses but it seems to me that you should use your blog to also promote some healthy eating.
Check out this site www.palmoiltruthfoundation.com This site gives us the lowdown on what appears to me to be one of the best kept health secrets. This cheap natural oil is supposedly extremely rich in antioxidants and is transfat free too! No wonder the Asians lead such long healthy lives, as I understand they use the stuff for evrything, from cooking to baking and even as food supplement in capsule form!
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Robin: Yawn.
Pongy cheese and old whisky is far more fun.
Great post Russell :)
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